Nivelle Offensive

The Nivelle Offensive was an Allied offensive on the Western Front of World War I which lasted from 16 April to 9 May 1917. Masterminded by and named for the French commander-in-chief Robert Nivelle, the offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough and instead led to widespread and paralyzing mutinies within the French Army.

Background
Through 1915 and 1916, fighting on the Western Front had degenerated into a war of attrition in which the French army suffered particularly heavy losses. The Battle of Verdun, fought in 1916, resulted in 380,000 French casualties. In its later stages, however, a number of German-held positions were captured in attacks mounted by General Robert Nivelle. In December 1916, Nivelle replaced General Joseph Joffre as the French commander-in-chief and persuaded the French and British prime ministers, Aristide Briand and David Lloyd George, to back his plans for a major offensive. The British commander-in-chief, Douglas Haig, reluctantly agreed to mount a diversionary attack on Arras.

Offensive
General Robert Nivelle won political support for his offensive in April 1917 by telling French leaders what they wanted to hear: that victory on the Western Front could be achieved quickly and without heavy loss of life. He planned an offensive at the Aisne River between Soissons and Reims, centering on the Chemin des Dames Ridge. He envisaged a breakthrough within 48 hours. A creeping barrage of artillrey fire - advancing in tandem with the infantry assault - would clear a path through the German defenses. Infantry and cavalry would then pour through the gap.

The Hindenburg Line
In March, French preparations were thrown into confusion by the withdrawal of German forces from the Somme to the newly built fortifications of the Hindenburg Line. The Germans laid waste to the French territory they were abandoning, ruining farms and villages, destroying railroads and bridges, and leaving booby-trap devices to maim or kill the unwary. In the face of this German defensive move, the French needed time to reconsider their strategy. But Nivelle insisted the offensive should go ahead.

Battle commences
After a 10-day preliminary barrage, the infantry went "over the top" on 16 April. Their progress was slow. The creeping barrage, meant to advance just ahead of the infantry, instead pushed far beyond them. Without artillery support, French soldiers suffered heavy losses to machine gun fire and German artillery bombardment. Lapses in French security had enabled the Germans to acquire detailed knowledge of the planned offensive, and they had strengthened the depth of their defenses to meet it. French Schneider CA1 tanks, used for the first time, became stuck or broke down and were reduced to burning wrecks by German artillery. As the advance stalled, troops coming forward to exploit the breakthrough were caught in a vast traffic jam behind the front.

The Nivelle Offensive was not an outright military disaster for the French. They took 28,000 German prisoners, captured some German guns, and gained around 600 yards of territory. But by the time the operation was abandoned on 9 May, the French army had suffered another 120,000 casualties and the anticipated breakthrough had not been achieved. The cost of the offensive outweighed the gains, and Nivelle was dismissed.

French mutinies
After the offensive, morale crumbled among the French troops. By the end of May 1917, widespread mutinies had swept the army. Thousands of troops quit frontline duties. Nine infantry divisions were almost completely out of action, with another 45 considerably affected. Soldiers made it clear they would continue to defend France, but they rejected any further futile offensives and called for improvements in conditions. General Philippe Petain replaced Nivelle as commander-in-chief. Petain made personal visits to army divisions to assure them there would be no more rash offensives. While the ringleaders of the mutinies were court-martialed, measures were introduced to improve the rations and leave. By July, a fragile order had been restored to the French Army.

Aftermath
By the end of the Nivelle Offensive, about one million French soldiers had been killed in the war. Yet French commitment to the conflict survived. The army mutinies of May 1917 were linked to an upsurge of "defeatism" in France. Antiwar French socialists tried to attend a peace conference in Stockholm, but were refused passports. There were widespread strikes in industry. After a period of political infighting, Georges Clemenceau was appointed Prime Minister in November 1917. Unswervingly committed to the war, he cracked down on those who disagreed with it.

In the wake of the mutinies, the French army refrained from major offensives. Although it carried out an effective limited offensive on the Aisne in October 1917, the British took over the leading Allied role on the Western Front, notably at Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres).